Avenging the Future
by CelticRemedy
Summary: After Loki's attack on New York, targets are painted on the backs of the Avengers. New threats arise as the Avengers are pulled into a war they have no right being in. It's a race against time to stop the Separatist before Earth becomes a victim of the Clone Wars.
1. Prologue: Nightmare or Vision?

**A/N: **_So Sarah is starting a new story, very foolishly in the beginning of the school year! Woohoo! Anyway, this story has actually been in the process for a couple of months now and I've just gotten around to writing it._

_**Disclaimer:** Star Wars and the Avengers belong to their respected owners, which is not me._

* * *

**Avenging the Future**

**Prologue: Nightmare or Vision?**

_The man came at Tony with the knife. Quickly, Tony shot the blaster. He silently stood up and walked over to the man, to inspect his work. The man's clothes were burned, right around where his heart, if he had one, should be. He turned away and began walking toward the door when he heard laughing coming from the supposedly dead man._

"_You'll never stop it." The dying man said. Tony turn around. "It's already begun. The Galaxy's descend into…darkness. It's starting and it's too…late to stop it. You lost, Tony Stark. You and your little Jedi friends…lost!"_

"_There's still time to stop it. We'll avenge the galaxy, you'll be sure of that."_

_The dying man began to laugh, drops of blood spurting out of the corner of his mouth. "And how will you do that, when your closest ally has turned!"_

_Tony's heart dropped. Oh God, no, please don't let it be true. He's was sure this was going to happen. Why didn't he telling anyone sooner? "Anakin," he whispered before running out of the room, the dying man's laughter echoing behind him._

_Tears formed in his eyes as he ran. He could feel the pressure against the Arc Reactor but he couldn't stop, not with the galaxy at stake. If this falls, if the world falls, it's on him. He'd be the one who caused it. And he'll forever be called, 'Tony Stark, Destroyer of the Galaxy.' They'll talk about him in history books._

_It would be exactly what he deserved._

_Tony tripped, landing face first on the concrete floors. He twisted his head to see what tripped him. Out of the shadows poked at blue arm. "No…dear God please don't let it be…" Tony whispered as he crawled over and pulled the thing out of the shadows. "No!"_

_Steve's face was pale white and his lips were red and sticky with his own blood. His uniform was ripped, like he tried to fight back. Mad, brave Steve Rogers…it would take the entire Clone army to stop you. Sadly, this time it was too much._

_Shakily, Tony stood and continued on his way to find Anakin. He had to stop this now. He'd deal with the grief later. Galaxy now, grief later. How did Jedi always have this mindset? How did they not weep when comrades fall in battle?_

_He reached a room at the end of the hall. He tried opening it, but the handle was jammed. Tony glanced through the window… "Or broken off," he sighed. "That's apparently an option too."_

_The lights in the room were out so he could barely see anything. Through foggy glass and dim lighting, he saw three people. He could be wrong, and he would have put money on that too. He didn't think to use the blaster to open the door because he saw what happened next._

_One of the people fell to the ground, and the other scrambled to her side. Someone had hit something against the side of her head. The other man gently rolled the woman over. Blood covered the side of her face but Tony could still recognize her._

"_Natasha…" The hole in Tony's heart grew larger. The Avengers were slowly being killed off and he felt responsible. Nick Fury would find replacements – a new team when they are found to be dead. There were thousands of supervillains in New York. There had to be a couple of more heroes._

_Light seemed to want him to see what happened next. Natasha's killer appeared again. The dark robes were hard to mistake. He stood behind the man at her side, like an executioner making the final kill so the town's people can go home until the next execution happens._

_Tony turned away, unable to face the reality of what happened._

_He was too late and now people were dead, people he loved._

* * *

Tony woke up in a cold sweat. He shot up right in bed, one hand clutching the blanket to his chest and the other over his racing heart. The light from the arc reactor dimly lit the room up. He sat there panting and trying to stop his heart from racing.

He didn't understand that dream at all. Perhaps it was one of those stupid 'you'll understand it later' things? There really wasn't much to understand except Steve and Natasha died…and he apparently was the one to cause everything. Okay…that part was horrible but he still didn't understand.

And who was that 'Anakin' guy it kept talking about? Apparently he was evil…or good…who turned evil. He needed to be stopped – let's leave it at that. And there was a man who was about to be killed – possibly by that Anakin guy.

He'll figure this out in the morning. He needed his sleep.

Tony lay back down in bed, pulling the blanket over his shoulders. And stared into the emptiness of his room.

Maybe that Anakin guy was possessed.

Tony groaned, "I'm not going back to sleep after that, am I?" He wondered who the man he killed was and how important he was.

He had a very bad feeling that he'd find out very soon.

* * *

**A/N: **_To avoid questions – the first part of this short prologue was a __**dream**__ as in it didn't really happen. So don't worry, Steve and Natasha aren't dead. As for length, the chapters will get longer. This is just a prologue so shortness is to be expected._

_Please review?_


	2. A Hopeful Transmission

**Disclaimer:**_ Star Wars is property of George Lucas and Lucasfilms. The Avengers belong to Marvel and Disney._

* * *

**Avenging the Future**

**Chapter One: A Hopeful Transmission**

**New York City, Earth**

Tony lay there in bed for possibly another hour before giving up on sleep. Every time he closed his eyes he saw parts of the dream. To hope for sleep now would be pointless so he left his room and made his way down to the living room.

He wasn't shocked to see Natasha sitting on the couch watching some old movie with the sound too low to hear anything but a low whisper. Usually one Avenger was woken up or wakes up earlier than the others.

"Hey Stark," she said, not taking her eyes off of the TV. He wasn't even sure she was even watching it. "Having nightmares too?"

He sat down in the chair next to the couch. "Is that why you're down here at…four a clock in the morning?"

Natasha shrugged, "I would have been up in an hour anyway."

It's really weird seeing a person that was dead in a dream a minute ago now live and functioning and without a care in the world. That last part wasn't really true considering they were Avengers and every damn thing they did could get them killed.

Tony wondered if Natasha was having the same problem he was. She has always been the best at hiding things out the entire team. He thought about asking but it was really pointless. The only person who could really get anything out of her was Clint.

"So…what was yours about?" He figured he'd try anyway.

Natasha's answer was just what he expected to hear, "I'm not even sure honestly. I couldn't understand it." Tony suddenly grew more interested. When she saw that he wasn't to going to back down, she sighed…

* * *

_High above the ground below, there sat a sniper in a window with his gun pointed at some poor target a mile away. He silently worked with his gun, loading the ammo he'd need to make his final kill of the day. Looking through the scope, the sniper searched for his target._

"_I've got him sir," the sniper reported once he got a clean shot._

"_Good," his employer sneered. "Make the shot and end the life of that Jedi scum Anakin Skywalker."_

_The sniper pulled the trigger but the shot wasn't fired. He looked up in surprise. That couldn't be possible. He double checked everything twice. How could something go wrong?_

"_Having trouble?" a voice behind him said. The sniper stood up and spun around. He took out his blaster and pointed it at the intruder. A red head female with a fierce glare stared back at him. Her arms were crossed and she made no more of reaching for a weapon._

"_Don't do this Clint," she said. "You're better than them. Don't let them trick you. The Jedi _aren't_ the enemy."_

_His arm lurched back as he fired the blaster but the shot never reached its target. She raised her arm and the shot bounced off a deflector shield. "You remember this don't you? Tony Stark made it." The glare got fiercer – if that was possible. "You killed him last week."_

"_You're a fool if you believe the Jedi have your best interest in mind. They don't care about your personal well fare. All they care about is getting the job done. Doesn't matter who they lose on the way. I learned that the hard way. Surely you remember Banner and how they _let_ him die."_

"_Sounds more like a Sith to me," Natasha replied calmly. "Banner agreed to go in there. He_ knew_ the cost. He knew that there was a chance he might not walk out. Anakin tried to stop him but he insisted. He was trying to protect the rest of us."_

"_He insisted!" the sniper laughed. "Natasha they've got you brainwashed! They forced him into that factory! They tricked us all!"_

_Natasha took out her gun but Clint shot faster. She didn't have time to deflect it. She fell, a blaster mark seared through her uniform, right where her heart would be._

"_Job completed."_

* * *

"What do you think these mean?" Tony asked. "I mean, I've had one like that too. Well…not exactly like that but same context – filled with things I've never heard of before. It can't be a coincidence that this happened to both of us."

"I don't think we should bring this up to the other Avengers," Natasha said. "No point in scaring them. If they had a dream like this, let them be the one to tell us. They'll be more open to sharing it that way."

"There's one thing that connects these, you know," Tony said softly. Natasha nodded. "That name – Anakin. It's important. I wouldn't forget it if I was you."

She looked up at Tony, knowing that name wasn't all. "Don't worry. I won't."

There were really two things that connected them; that name and the fact that Natasha is killed in both of them. Tony felt like that these weren't two different dreams but one split in half and had been dreamt by two different people. At least he's found out what happen to the rest of the Avengers.

"Let's keep this between us," Tony suggested. "If something comes up that relates to this then we'll tell the others. Not all of it, maybe just what seems important at that time."

"Agreed."

* * *

Tony hated the feeling of being helpless but that's exactly how he's been feeling. It's been a week since he's talk with Natasha. They're decision of not telling anyone else was killing him. Of course they haven't talked about it much either. There really wasn't anything to talk about honestly.

The Avengers have been busy doing Fury's dirty work and cleaning up messes that HYDRA left them. There was something odd going on, that's for certain. Seeing HYDRA in New York was no surprise. Ever since Loki's attack they've been popping up everywhere, trying to find a weak spot in the Avengers.

But recently, they've been leaving messes all over New York. The Avengers would be sent out to deal with the threat but when they got to the location there would be no sign of HYDRA – leaving the Avengers to clean up the mess they made.

The people at SHIELD started to believe that it was all a ruse to keep the Avengers distracted. They thought that there was something bigger being planned. If HYDRA was trying to keep them in the dark, Fury didn't want to know what they were really planning.

That was when SHIELD found something interesting and Fury pulled the Avengers from the HYDRA mission, rather quickly and abruptly too.

"I hope you know HDYRA is still out there, Fury," Tony said voicing what the other Avengers have thought but were too confused to say. "They're sitting out there waiting for another chance to strike and you've just given them it."

"Well HYDRA will just have to wait then," Fury said looking menacing as always with that one eye of his. "We've received something bigger. A threat, actually, to Earth."

"Don't tell me," Tony said, dread evident in his voice. "The Asgardians let Loki go and know he's come back for his revenge." The last thing they needed now was Loki. Of course the chances of it being him were slim to none as Asgardian prisons were assumed to be hard to break out of and he'd obviously – hopefully – be heavily guarded.

"I highly doubt its Loki who we're dealing with," Fury assured everyone. "What we received was a hint of a threat to Earth. Our source didn't seem too sure about what was going on himself. A week ago we received a transmission from outer space. Our team just got finished decoding it to get the gist of what we're dealing with."

At first all you could hear was static before you slowly began to hear the person speaking.

_My name is Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi from the Galactic Republic. I know people in your galaxy don't know what that is. Unfortunally, I don't have the time to explain it. I speak to you now on the behalf of the Jedi Council. We have gained knowledge of the team of heroes known as The Avengers._

_We, however, aren't the people you should be afraid of. We have reason to believe that the Confederacy of Independent Systems, also known as the Separatists, want to turn The Avengers in weapons in the war against the Republic. If what they want isn't delivered to them, they will come to your planet and forcibly take them. I have been ordered by the Jedi Council to bring the Avengers into our galaxy and to the Jedi Temple for protection to avoid an intergalactic war._

"That's where it cuts off," Fury said as the transmission ended. Tony and Natasha shared a nervous look. Too many things were coming true at once.

"Are we really going to go along with this?" Clint asked.

"I think we have too," Fury said, a hint of humor in his voice. "There's no way to contact this guy and tell him to turn around."

"He can't be the bad guy," Tony interrupted, "I mean he said himself that he's trying to _avoid_ bringing their war to us."

"Yeah," the Captain disagreed, "by bringing _us_ into theirs."

"For protection," Natasha cut in, helping Tony. She – as he did – that it was important that they went along with this. There was something about this Anakin that was important – obviously – and they needed to be there when it came to light. Perhaps their dreams were warnings of something that's going to happen.

* * *

**1 Month Earlier**

**Jedi Temple, Coruscant**

"Do you know what this is about?" Anakin asked Obi-Wan on their way to the Council Room. Both men were nearly exhausted from the mission they returned from two days ago. To be receiving another one so soon was shocking and almost unheard of.

Obi-Wan shook his head, "Not a clue."

"I hope they aren't planning on sending us on another mission already and expecting us to be successful," Anakin huffed.

"Oh I don't think so," Anakin caught the hint of humor in his master's voice. "They already don't expect that."

_Maybe not from me but you on the other hand…_ Anakin couldn't help the despairing thoughts from entering his mind. Obi-Wan sensed something wrong from his former Padawan but it wasn't strong enough to tell exactly what.

"Gentlemen," Master Mace Windu greeted as they entered the Council Chambers.

"Arose, a new threat has." Master Yoda began. "Be swift, we must. Swift to stop the Separatist, we must be."

Master Windu beckoned them to the middle of the room where a hologram played. "They're called the Avengers. They're a response unit made up of superhumans on a planet just out of our galaxy. After they're battle with the Chitauri, they caught the eye of the Separatists. Now they and their planet are their new targets."

"The Chitauri…" Anakin whispered. "You mean they're real?"

"You've heard of them?" Windu didn't sound surprised. There was a lot about Anakin people didn't understand.

"They were an old story back on Tatooine made to scare children into behaving. They said if you disobeyed your parents, the Chitauri would come and steal you away. I never did believe it. So what are do you want us to do?"

"We're hoping to avoid an intergalactic war. We believe the Avengers to be the Separatists' prime targets. If they're off the planet then the Separatists will leave it alone. Bring them here to the Temple. They'll be safe here.

Obi-Wan asked, "And if you're wrong?"

"Then we risk war."

Knowing they won't get anything else out of Windu, Anakin and Obi-Wan turned to leave. When they were nearly out of the room, Obi-Wan stopped like somebody had frozen him.

Anakin turned around to see Obi-Wan standing stock still as if the Council Chambers suddenly disappeared. "Master?"

The younger Jedi walked toward him intending to see what happened but as soon as he tried Master Windu shouted,

"No Anakin!"

Too late, Anakin's outstretched arm hit a force field that held his Master in stasis. As soon as he touched it, an electrical current was released, raving its way through Obi-Wan's body. It wasn't that strong, Anakin felt it through his robotic arm, but it was enough to hurt.

Anakin then saw a silhouette of a man appear behind Obi-Wan. The man looked at Anakin and put a finger to his lips, as if he was quietly telling a young child to be quiet. There was a blinding flash and the man – and Obi-Wan – was gone.

"No!" Anakin exclaimed. "What…what just happened?"

The look on Windu's face was grave. "I've seen his done before. It's a Jedi Trap. Anakin could you sense Obi-Wan in this room?"

"Yes, I could…well, no…I could but then it was like he was gone."

Windu nodded, "That's because the Trap cuts off all connections to the Force. I've seen too many good men get taken by one of these."

Anakin felt his anger for whatever the thing that took Obi-Wan grow. "But he's not dead, right? It just took him. He's still alive. Where did it take him?"

"No," Windu said sternly. "Right now you're main priority is the Avengers and getting them safely to Coruscant before the Separatists attack their planet. We'll search for Obi-Wan and report back to you if we find anything. I'm afraid you'll have to go alone." He continued when he saw Anakin's look of confusion. "I don't think they've seen anyone that wasn't human that wasn't trying to attack their planet. Any non-human visitors would be taken as hostile.

"Understood." Anakin bowed and swiftly left the room, still angry about what happened to Obi-Wan.

After thee young Jedi left, Yoda bowed his head and walk toward the window. "Tell the truth, you did. The Incomplete truth, however."

Mace sighed, "Anakin doesn't have to know that the's no chance we'll find Obi-Wan.

* * *

**A/N:** _And thus our great adventure begins! So Tony's not the only one getting these weird dreams. But the question is; what's the meaning behind all of them? And what happened to Obi-Wan? Who was that man Anakin saw? (Points if you can guess that last one.)_

_Please review?_


	3. Extraterrestrial Visitors

**AN:** In honor of the release of the Iron Man 3 theatrical trailer, here is the second chapter of the story you all probably thought I forgot about.

Avenging the Future

Chapter 2: Extraterrestrial Visitors

**Earth's Atmosphere**

"_Master, are you sure this is safe? I mean, we've never even met these people before. We've never even heard of their planet!"_ His concerned Padawan said through the comlink. The population of the planet he was traveling to was mainly human, as far as they could tell. The Council thought because of this they might take Ahsoka differently as she would any other planet in the galaxy.

The fact that they just faced an alien invasion could have been a major factor in their decision. "_For all we know, they could already be with the Separatist. You could be walking into a trap and you won't have Master Kenobi to help you this time._"

Anakin winced at the mention of his lost Master. He hasn't heard anything from the Council about them finding him. Anakin barely believed they were looking for him. "These people are so far out I don't even think they've heard of the Separatists or the Republic and…I'm not picking up any Separatist droids on their planet."

"_What you reached the planet? What does it look like? What's it like?_" Oh so _now_ she's excited about this.

He laughed, "I'll have R2 send you a hologram later. And it's pretty well population. I'm getting billions of life forms on the radar." He was sort of surprised that a planet this populated could survive this far from the Republic. They managed to last this far under both the Republic and the Separatist's radar. Anakin was kind of sad to break their streak but not sad enough to turn back. If he didn't set up a Republic alliance now the Separatist will come and most likely burn the planet down.

"_Just be careful, Master, alright?_" Be careful, Skywalker. That seemed to be the motto of the Temple before he left. He could tell you how many people came up to him and told him to be careful and not to screw this up. Probably because Obi-Wan wasn't with him this time. If they spent less time wishing him luck and spent more looking for Obi-Wan they wouldn't have to worry.

"Yeah Snips, I'll be fine." He noticed a button on the control panel blinking. "Look I have to go. Someone on the planet is trying to contact me. I'll get back to you later. Don't worry."

* * *

**Earth, Helicarrier, Day of Anakin's Arrival,**

"Somebody want to explain why I was dragged out of my tower at two a clock in the morning?" Tony Stark asked as he walked inside of the meeting room. Fury was there; probably waiting for him, with two other soldiers on the table was a black body bag. "Who'd you kill this time?"

Fury ignored him. Instead he gestured to the soldiers, who moved to unzip the bag. "This landed outside of New York City last night. We figured you would be interested."

Tony walked farther into the room. Inside of the bag there was what looked like pieces of a robot. They were pale and disassembled. "What do you want me to do with it?" He asked in a low serious voice.

"See if you can resemble it, get it to work, find out what you can from it."

He sighed inwardly. This was alien tech, obviously. He didn't know if Fury realized this _little_ fact or not. Either way the director was expecting a lot from him. "I'm going to need a place to work…and a drink." He would rather do this over at his lab in Stark Tower but obviously that wasn't going to happen.

He was able to get the lackeys to bring the thing down to one of the labs. There he laid everything out on the floor. There was a weapon buried inside of the bag. Tony whistled. The gun was beautiful; surely something he'd want to look at later.

"Alright…now, let's crack open your memory banks." Easier said than done, of course. He had the slightest idea forming in his head of where this thing came from. Nearly a month ago an alien contacted them saying there was an army targeting Earth – or more specifically the Avenger. He was guessing this was a soldier from that army.

Half an hour after he started working, he heard the door slid open. Without turning around he called out, "God Fury, you're going to have give me more time than that. I'm good but not that good."

"I'll be sure to tell him that."

Startled, Tony turned to see Natasha standing there with a small smirk on her face. "Oh, hey."

"Heard Fury got you a new project to work on to keep you busy," She said. "So what is it?"

"This thing apparently dropped out of space a few days ago," Tony said, pointing the screwdriver at the half assembled robot. "Fury wanted me to get it working, find out what it's doing here." He laughed, "I don't think I'm going to get this thing working. But I did have a few ideas of where it came from." He muttered something under his breath. Natasha barely heard him. "Maybe the Jedi can tell us."

* * *

"Sir we have an unidentified alien craft in our atmosphere," Coulson said as Director Fury came down the deck. "We've been trying to contact it but our attempts have been…unsuccessful. It seems like something is blocking the transmission."

"I knew those satellites were a bad idea," Fury growled. The damn things were jamming their transmission.

"Wait," Coulson said. "We're getting something." At first nothing but static was playing before they heard somebody speech. And that voice was the exact one on the transmission received months ago. _"This…Skywalker, of the…Republic."_

Fury sprung into action, "Get that transmission fixed, Coulson. Make sure the government doesn't get to him first." They usually had control over this kind of thing. He couldn't afford this alien falling into the wrong hands.

About twenty minutes later, they had everything fixed and Coulson was directing the Jedi on where to go. The Director smiled as he turned to collect the team.

Everything was going smoothly.

* * *

**Helicarrier**

The coordinates took him to a landing platform in some military base. This confirmed his guess of SHIELD being some sort of military faction.

R2 beeped uncertainly at him as he stood up. "Don't worry Artoo, I'll be fine. I have my lightsaber. What could they throw at me that I couldn't handle?" R2 gave of the droid equivalent of an exasperated sigh.

It was an act of course and the little droid knew. Anakin hasn't been this far out in space before. It didn't help that he was alone either. But years as Jedi taught him it was okay to have a little fear. It kept you alert. _'And you would be a fool to rush into a battle without an ounce of fear.'_ He heard the words of his old Master echoing through his head as he stepped off the ship.

Other than the twenty soldiers that he immediately sensed has he stepped off, two men stood there. One looked more like a business man than a soldier, which led him to believe he was some important figure here. The other looked like a normal high ranking officer.

The business man, obviously the one in charge, stepped forward. "I'm Agent Phil Coulson." Now Anakin realized that this was the man that contacted him moments earlier. "Welcome to Earth."

_Earth._ He played it over in his mind and decided he didn't like it. It was too simple. He nodded, "Anakin Skywalker."

"Yes," Coulson said, a slight smile crossing his face. "We know. The Director is waiting with the team." He gestured for Anakin to follow him, which the Jedi gladly did. The presence of the soldiers remained. Anakin was starting to feel more like a prisoner than a guest.

The soldiers weren't the only thing he sensed. He also sensed something familiar, something he wasn't expecting to sense on this far out.

There was a Force sensitive on this planet.

* * *

The team was more willing to hear what he had to say than he thought they would be. He thought he would be regarded as mad but thankfully they took a threat to their planet seriously. They all had questions, which Anakin was willing to answer. He should have expected the first question.

Anakin never truly understood the complexity of the Jedi and the Galactic Republic and the entire war until he had to explain it all. He kept his explanation as short as he could but it was still long and redundant. Again, he found himself wishing Obi-Wan was here. He was better at this by far. The man sometimes never shut up about the Jedi.

The one who asked was their captain, Steve Rogers, though he could see the question was on all their minds. "Right," Rogers said after he was finished. Anakin could see he was still confused, if just slightly. "I just wanted to know what we were walking into."

A small flare of hope went off in Anakin's heart. Maybe this meant that they were willing to go along.

"This all seems rather dangerous," Clint Barton cut in. "It's not like we aren't accustomed to danger but this does seem a little over the top."

"I thought we already discussed this?" Tony Stark suddenly asked, standing up. "I thought we already agreed it would be best if we went along with this? So why are we wasting time discussing it?"

"Yes," Director Fury said, slightly annoyed. "But that was before we knew the dangers of it."

"Look Fury," Tony said anger evident in his voice, "If we don't go with him, these Separatists come and blow up the planet. As our friend here said," he gestured at Anakin. "It's us they want. If we get off the planet, they leave Earth alone. Done deal, right?"

"They would be in the safest part of the galaxy," Anakin spoke directly to the Director. "Nobody has ever successfully attacked the Jedi Temple. And, of course, their lives will be protected by myself." He figured he wouldn't mention Obi-Wan or Ahsoka until he got nearer to Coruscant. "Though I cannot assure you no harm will come to them, I can honestly say we will protect them with our very lives."

That seemed to win the Director over. "Fine," he said after a long drawn out silence. "I just hope you realize what you're getting your people into." Suddenly he felt like he was standing

As Anakin went to stand, he heard someone whistle. He looked up to see Tony looking at him with a questioning look on his face.

"I had a question," the man said quietly.

Wondering why he had waited this long, Anakin merely nodded. "Of course, what is it?"

"Well, actually it's more of a request." Tony hesitated, "I think it might be better if I showed you." The Jedi merely nodded, stood up and followed the man out of the room. He was led down to the lab that Tony was using earlier and received one of the biggest shocks of his life. Pieces of a battle droid were lying on a black mat on the floor, complete with a blaster they were known for carrying.

"This thing dropped out of the atmosphere a few days ago," Tony explained. "I'd say it fell apart once it hit the ground. I figured it was from your part of the galaxy because…well, anything like this from here would have burned up in the atmosphere."

It was a simple B1 battle droid, commonly used by the Separatists. But what would it be doing all the way out here? He might have expected a probe droid being here as a weak attempt by the Separatists to see what's out here. A battle droid worried him. It meant at one point the Separatists had soldiers out before the Republic even knew about this planet. He would love to know what they were doing out here. And there might be a way he could.

He knelt down beside the mat. Nearly all the parts were there. R2 could resemble it easily. "I have something that can fix it," Anakin said. He looked up at Tony, "Could you take me back to the hanger?" Honestly, here he felt more confused than the first time he was in the Jedi Temple. He'd never find his way back alone.

Tony smirked, "Of course. As long as I figure out what this thing is." He gestured for the Jedi to follow him.

"Oh I can tell you that now," Anakin said standing up. "It's a battle droid," he explained as Tony led him to the hanger. "They're what the Separatists have been using the war."

"What is it doing all the way out here then?"

Anakin shook his head, "That's what I'm hoping to find out. I have a droid on my ship that can resemble it. Then if it doesn't tell me willingly, I'll have him to extract the information from it."

Tony brought him down to the hanger, where the _Twilight_ was docked. The man stopped in shock, staring up at the ship in pure amazement. Wordlessly and before he realized what he was doing, Tony followed Anakin onto the ship.

As soon as he stepped onto the ship, Anakin got run into by R2, who was setting off a bunch of nervous and excited beeps and whistles. This immediately got him worried. R2 almost never acted like this unless there was a pretty good reason behind it.

The Jedi kneeled down next to the droid. "What's wrong Artoo?" He asked just as a hologram of Aayla Secura appeared. She spoke in a hurried, whispered tone, which frightened Anakin even further.

Hearing this take place, Tony froze where he was, unsure what to do.

"_Skywalker, do not bring them here. It's too dangerous now. Come to Cyphar instead. The Council has been corrupted. The capture of Kenobi was a plot step up by…_" Aayla was interrupted by somebody Anakin couldn't see. The transmission ended there. R2 sent off a series of worried beeps and whistles.

"Me too, buddy," Anakin said under his breath. "Who could have done this?" He was upset she was cut off before she could tell him who captured Obi-Wan.

His thoughts were interrupted by another voice. "At least she told you where to go." He looked up and saw Tony standing there with an unreadable look on his face. "Sorry, I couldn't resist." Anakin merely nodded. "So…who's Kenobi?"

"Obi-Wan Kenobi," Anakin answered. "He's the other Jedi that was supposed come with me here but he was captured even before we left the Temple."

Tony crossed his arms over his chest, "You said nobody has ever made a successfully attack your Temple before." It wasn't said as an accusation more like a worried afterthought.

The Jedi shook his head, "I don't think it was an attack."

Tony just nodded, actually beginning to feel scared. "I…I wouldn't mention this to the Director. You still want that droid resembled?"

"We'll bring it with us," he said. "I'll have R2 fix it later. But we have to leave soon."

Tony could tell that Anakin was good friends with this Obi-Wan and he could help but think he was the one Anakin killed in his dream. Shivering at the thought, Tony followed Anakin off the ship. And for the first time, Tony realized just how dangerous this situation is going to be.

* * *

**Undisclosed Location**

He was tired, so very tired. He was hanging from a pair of chains that were just about too tight. Whatever they were doing to him was beginning to take its toll. He felt his connection to the Force weakening. He would have tried to contact Anakin through the bond, but even the thought of doing such an act strained him.

There was another problem. He didn't know who '_they_' were or where they were holding him. The only reason he knew it was a 'they' is because he heard whispered conversations in a language he doesn't understand. And in the odd hours of the night, he would hear footsteps on a metal floor.

His heard jerked up as he heard footsteps coming toward him. They stopped near the shadows and he could only see a dark outline.

His hands balled into fists. "Who are you?" He called out into the shadows. Thinking it was a bounty hunter, he continued with. "Which Sith paid you to capture me?"

A slick voice answered him, "Oh no, not them."

Evil imagines then wove their way into his mind. They were memories…he thought. He couldn't remember. They seemed too real to just be dreams. They were memories of pain and suffering and…it hurt. He wanted desperately to escape but he couldn't. His screams went unheard here.

A calming sensation flooded through him. The evil disappeared and he felt at peace. It was a welcoming change from the months of hideous torture. But then…

But then came the one thing that Obi-Wan Kenobi feared the most.

An empty mind.


End file.
